The happy homemaker
charade of political wives takes a fatal hit in this wicked comedy. Picture
a woman running at you with cupcakes in hand. Now, picture her caddying,
making change, fetching drinks -- all for a man who behaves like Little
Caesar. Picture this rhapsodic wife parading through the supermarket as
if its aisles lead to the coronation of Mrs. America. Picture her doing
everything for her emperor except bleating: "Gimme a break, dear!"

From its first moments, this story keeps us guessing: Who runs this conspiracy?
The most obvious candidate appears to be Mike Wellington, played perfectly
by Christopher Walken. This actor's credits include Pulp Fiction
(1994) and Blast from the Past (1999). His character's
leadership of the idyllic gated Stepford community in Connecticut seems
robust. Why, then, should he need to shout: "Men, control your wives!
Control your wives!"

The battle between
the sexes emerges as the major theme of this movie. Conformity, however,
blurs one woman with another and even women with men. Thus the love of
power -- the need to make others bend a subservient knee -- overcomes
all other objectives. The movie leans over that fine line between commercials
and craziness. What woman needs to fill her house with cupcakes as Stepford
Wives do? What family, for that matter, needs a "great room" to
display life-size Barbie and Ken dolls?

Furthermore, what
country needs supermarkets with 97 different kinds of detergents, air
fresheners, deodorants -- and no respect for the absolutely unique phenomenon?
Mass produced plentitude already verges on the absurd. This social satire
just took it an extra step in 2004.

The nasty secret hidden
behind the hedges of this New England real estate remains total intolerance
for any scrap of originality. Only newcomers reveal the slightest real
talent. Long time residents show the effects of mental bludgeoning --
artificially induced stupidity. Robots simply concretize what neighbors
expect of neighbors -- a meltdown into the national melting pot. Here,
community leaders reserve for themselves the right to control every gasp
of over-excited laughter.

The epitome of this
bid for power over the pathetic citizen trying to run her own life springs
at the viewer in the opening scenes. The media force a ratings week philosophy
on all their employees. Then, they blame the faithful for excesses and
disasters.

As an executive both
honed and destroyed by this atmosphere, Nicole Kidman dramatizes life
pushed past sanity. Other recent films starring this famous redhead also
feature the quest to remain faithful to singular goals: The Portrait
of a Lady (1996) and The Hours (2002). As her sidekick
in shake-ups, shake-downs, and general trouble-making in Stepford, Bette
Midler brings the desperation of Ruthless People (1986)
and First Wives' Club (1996) to a setting that begs for
missionaries of individuality.

Here, Glenn Close
plays the unelected Queen of America. In her brilliant portrayal of utopian
visionary Clare Wellington, the audience will find guile par none. It
overflowed in Fatal Attraction (1987) and Dangerous
Liaisons (1988). When she smiles, RUN!